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Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842), one of six species of Heliosciurus, is a sciurid commonly called red-legged sun squirrel. It is a medium-sized diurnally adapted tree squirrel occurring at ground-level to upper heights of the canopy of mature forests. It ranges from the west coast of Africa to Garissa County, Kenya. Adapted to an arboreal life, its frugivorous diet makes it a seed disperser for forest plants. In portions of West Africa, it serves as a source of bushmeat and it is a reservoir for human monkey-pox virus and Trypanosoma brucei, which causes African sleeping sickness. H. rufobrachium is listed as “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

264. Red-legged Sun Squirrel Heliosciurus rufobrachium French: Ecureuil de Waterhouse / German: RotfuRsonnenhérnchen / Spanish: Ardilla sol de patas rojas Other common names: Isabelline Red-legged Sun Squirrel Taxonomy. Sciurus rufobrachium Waterhouse, 1842, “Fernando Po,” Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Twenty-one subspecies are recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. H.r.rufobrachiumWaterhouse,1842-—BiokoI. H.r.arrheniiLonnberg,1917—NorthKivuProvince,DRCongo. H.r.aubryiMilne-Edwards,1867—Gabon,N&CRepublicoftheCongo,SWCentralAfricanRepublic,andDRCongo,betweentheTshuapaandKasairivers. H.r.bengaCabrera.1917—EquatorialGuinea. H.r.caurinusThomas,1923-Guinea-Bissau. H.r.coenosusThomas,1909-DRCongo. H.r:emissusThomas,1923-Nigeria. H.nhardyiTlıomas,1923-IvoryCoast. H.r.isabellinusGray,1867-TogotoENigeria. H.r.keniaeNeumann,1902-WslopeofMtKenya(Kenya). H.r.leakyiToschi,1946-EKenya,aroundCarissa. H.nleonensisThomas.1923-SienaLeone. H.r.lualabaeThomas,1923—DRCongo. H.rmaculatusTemminck,1853-ESienaLeonetoGhana. H.r.medjianusJ.A.Allen,1922-DRCongo. H.r.nyansaeNeumann,1902-NyandoRiverValley(WKenya),Rwanda,Burundi,and WTanzania,perhapsextendingintoUganda. H. r. obfuscatus Thomas, 1923 — SE Nigeria and Mt Cameroon (Cameroon). On following pages: 265. Small Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus punctatus); 266. Ruwenzori Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus 269. Forest Giant Squirrel (Protoxerus stangeri); 270. Slender-tailed Squirrel (Protoxerus aubinnii); 271. Western Palm (Funisciurus substriatus); 274. Red-cheeked Rope Squirrel (Funisciurus leucogenys); 275. Thomas's Rope Squirrel ruwenzoril); 267. Zanj Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus undulatus); 268. Mutable Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus mutabilis), Squirrel (Epixerus ebii); 272. Fire-footed Rope Squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus); 273. Kintampo Rope Squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus); 276. Lady Burton's Rope Squirrel (Funisciurus isabella). H.r.occidentalisMonard,1941—Cutia(Guinea-Bissau)andlikelysurroundingareastoSenegalandGuinea. H.r.pashaSchwann,1904—DRCongo. H.r.rubricatusJ.A.Allen,1922—DRCongo. H. r. semlikii Thomas, 1907 — Semliki River (DR Congo). Precise distributions of subspecies coenosus, lualabae, medjianus, pasha, and rubricatus are unknown, and there may be some degree of distributional overlap. Descriptive notes. Head—body mean 228-4 mm (males) and 219-1 mm (females), tail 245-8 mm (males) and 240-1 mm (females); weight mean 379-8 g (males) and 360-6 g (females). The Red-legged Sun Squirrel is medium-sized and has dark brown to grayish dorsum, with variable suffusion of red or orange; pale buff eye ring is usually present. Venter is highly variable from pale brown, orange, or red that result in confusion at the subspecific level. Inner and outersides of limbs are bright rusty red, brown, or gray. Tail is noticeably long and thin, with faint rings of buff and black;it is usually held straight out behind rather than curled against back when moving orsitting. Ventral pelage of nominate rufobrachium is perhaps most characteristic, with light rust grading to gray up along sides, but variation among forms is not well defined. Subspecies benga is small, with reddish color extending through tail rather than ending at base. Subspecies caurinus exhibits tannish brown chest, white ventral pelage, and red forearms and inner thighs. Subspecies hardyiis paler than the others, with dull whitish ventral pelage and buff feet. Subspecies isabellinus is very faintly red, and areas that are normally red in other subspecies are replaced with darker color; tail is heavily ringed with black. Subspecies maculatus is dark, with deep red on forearms and inner surfaces of thighs. Subspecies medjianus is uniformly dark, with conspicuous white chest area. Habitat. Woodlands and forests including mesic lowland evergreen tropical forests, mangrove swamps, and xeric savanna and gallery forest areas. The Red-legged Sun Squirrel tolerates human disturbance and can be found in secondary forests, forested gardens, and cocoa and palm plantations. Food and Feeding. The Red-legged Sun Squirrel is heavily herbivorous and eats seeds, flowers, fruits, and green vegetation. It also actively forages in crevices among tree branches, roots, and lianas for ants, termites, and caterpillars and explores dead wood to capture insects; large insects are captured with forepaws and then eaten. It follows mixed flocks of insectivorous birds, potentially to increase foraging efficiency and receive increased protection against predators. Breeding. Female Red-legged Sun Squirrels give birth once or twice a yearto litters of 1-2 young. Activity patterns. Red-legged Sun Squirrels are diurnal and forage heavily in midand upper canopy. They leave cavity nests and perhaps abandoned termite nests after dawn and return in late afternoon before sunset. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Nests are centers of daily activities and are built inside narrow hollows in trees or large branches and lined with leaves, twigs, or bark. Males and females appear to most frequently nest alone in the wild; however, singles, pairs, and trios are observed during daily activity, and play and allogrooming have been documented. The Red-legged Sun Squirrel is not highly vocal but have a diverse repertoire of calls. Low-intensity alarm call soundslike single or double bark and is repeated 1-3 times. Whine of low-amplitude descending frequency followed by a short quick trill of low-frequency notes is uttered when highly alarmed. Both alarm vocalizations are accompanied by rapid circular tail movements while feet are stamped. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. No data are available on population trends. The Red-legged Sun Squirrel is widely distributed and presumably has large populations. It occurs in protected areas and is tolerant of some habitat modification. There are no major threats, and it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Bibliography. Emmons (1975, 1980, 2013f), Hayssen (2008a), Morse (1970), Rahm (1970a), Rosevear (1969), Thorington et al. (2012)., Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Sciuridae, pp. 648-837 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 827-828, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6840226

The collection and consumption of animal carcasses is a common activity in forested areas of the Congo River basin and creates sustainability, conservation, and health concerns. Residents of the Tshuapa District reported collecting the remains of 5,878 animals from >30 species when surveyed about their wildlife consumption habits. Carcasses were discovered in varying degrees of decomposition and were often consumed at home or sold in local markets. The most commonly collected animals were Cricetomys gambianus (Northern giant pouched rat), Cercopithecus ascanius (red-tailed monkey), and Heliosciurus rufobrachium (red-legged sun squirrel). Many of the species recorded may be hosts of zoonotic pathogens, creating concern for spillover events.

Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., [ser. 1], 10:202. TYPE LOCALITY: Equatorial Guinea, Bioko "... brought from Fernando Po...". DISTRIBUTION: Senegal, W Gambia, W Guinea Bissau, W Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, S Ivory Coast, S Ghana, S Togo, Benin, S Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko and Rio Muni (Equatorial Guinea), SW Central African Republic, SE Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, SW and SE Kenya, E and NW Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, E Zimbabwe, Zaire. SYNONYMS: acticola Thomas, 1923; arrhenii (Lönnberg, 1917); aschantiensis (Neumann, 1902); aubryi (Milne-Edwards, 1867); benga Cabrera, 1917; brauni St. Leger, 1935; caurinus Thomas, 1923; coenosus (Thomas, 1909); emissus Thomas, 1923; hardyi Thomas, 1923; isabellinus (Gray, 1867); keniae (Neumann, 1902); leonensis Thomas, 1923; libericus (Miller, 1900); lualabae Thomas, 1923; maculatus (Temminck, 1853); medjianus Allen, 1922; nyansae (Neuman, 1902); obfuscatus Thomas, 1923; occidentalis (Monard, 1941); pasha (Schwann, 1904); rubricatus Allen, 1922; rufo-brachiatus (Waterhouse, 1843); semlikii Thomas, 1907; waterhousii (Gray, 1867); leakyi Toschi, 1946. COMMENTS: Inclusion of aubryi and emissus questioned (Amtmann, 1975; Grubb, 1978:158)., Published as part of Robert S. Hoffmann & Charles G. Anderson, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Sciuridae, pp. 419-465 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press on page 429, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353130, {"references":["Milne-Edwards, A. 1867. Observations sur quelques mammiferes du nord de la Chine. Annales des sciences naturelles. Zoologie et biologie animale, 7 (5): 375 - 377.","Amtmann, E. 1975. Family Sciuridae. Part 6. 1. Pp. 1 - 12, in The mammals of Africa: An identification manual (J. Meester and H. W. Setzer, eds.) [issued 10 Dec 1975]. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., not continuously paginated.","Grubb, P. 1978. Patterns of speciation in African mammals. Pp. 152 - 167, in Ecology and taxonomy of African small mammals (D. A. Schlitter, ed.). Bulletin, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 6: 1 - 214."]}

Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, 10:202. TYPE LOCALITY: Equatorial Guinea, Bioko (Fernando Po). DISTRIBUTION: Senegal to S.E. Sudan and Kenya, south to Mozambique and S. E. Zimbabwe. COMMENT: Includes mutabilis and undulatus; see Amtmann, 1975, Part 6.1:5. ISIS NUMBER: 5301410002013006001 as H. rufobrachium. 5301410002013003001 as H. mutabilis. 5301410002013007001 as H. undulatus., Published as part of James H. Honacki, Kenneth E. Kinman & James W. Koeppl, 1982, Order Rodentia (Part 1), pp. 345-382 in Mammal Species of the World (1 st Edition), Lawrence, Kansas, USA :Alien Press, Inc. & The Association of Systematics Collections on page 352, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353023, {"references":["Amtmann, E. 1975. Family Sciuridae. Part 6. 1. Pp. 1 - 12, in The mammals of Africa: An identification manual (J. Meester and H. W. Setzer, eds.) [issued 10 Dec 1975]. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., not continuously paginated."]}